In an industrial laundry industry, cotton towels are laundered and rented to customers for the cleaning of kitchens, tables, walls, bar tops and a host of other miscellaneous duties. The range of uses for the towels creates an environment where the product is subjected to much abuse. These towels are not ideal for all of these applications because of a lack of strength, propensity to lint, poor dimensional stability and susceptibility to degradation from chlorine bleach. Also, industrial laundries must bleach the towels heavily in the wash cycle to remove the tremendous loading of stains, grease, and particulate from the towels. For these reasons, the towels have a very short life span and a longer life would be more desirable.
In order to increase durability and product lifetime, nonwoven absorbent towels have been made from synthetic materials more durable than cotton. When a more durable synthetic material is used the towel absorbency is typically sacrificed.
There is a need for a nonwoven fabric with absorbency and wring-ability equal to or greater than a cotton towel, with high durability, and with long lifetime by creating a plurality of highly absorbent micro-sponges on the surface of the fabric. All patents and patent applicants cited are incorporated by reference in their entirety.